Operations Officer – GG

IFC a member of the World Bank Group is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2023, IFC committed a record US$43.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org

 

The WBG estimates that by 2030, half the world’s extreme poor will live in countries characterized by fragility, conflict, and violence. In these settings, the private sector can help transform livelihoods by creating jobs, providing goods and services, generating tax revenues, and rebuilding infrastructure.  Fragile economies demand innovative approaches that go beyond country, regional, or sectoral strategies.

In recognition of this, IFC has identified supporting stability and growth in fragile and conflict-affected situations as a top priority, pledging that 40 percent of its annual commitments will be in International Development Association-eligible (IDA) and Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations (FCS) countries by 2030.

IFC’s Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations (FCS) in Africa program is dedicated to developing and piloting innovative and integrated tools and approaches to enable IFC to scale up its engagement (investment and advisory services) in and across all fragile countries in Africa. The team helps IFC to deliver on its FCS commitments under the World Bank Group’s Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) Strategy, and the 2018 Capital Increase Package. 

The FCS Africa team delivers through three main workstreams: (1) engagement with the domestic private sector; (2) developing approaches for economic inclusion in forced displacement settings and (3) delivering on conflict sensitivity by developing tools, piloting projects and integrating conflict sensitivity into projects in the region; and across all workstreams, building and sharing knowledge on private sector development in fragile situations. 

In order to increase the presence on the ground in key markets, the FCS Africa team is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Operations Officer to lead the regional fragility focused activities in West Africa (all FCS countries that fall under the Regional Director for West Africa). This position will report to the Chief Investment Officer and Head of Fragility, FCS Africa. The Operations Officer will be based in Mali or Burkina Faso.

 

Duties and Accountabilities

•  Coordinate all the FCS Africa engagements and work closely with FCS thematic leads and the regional, investment, advisory and specialist teams on key priorities for delivery on the three FCS workstreams in the region.

•  Build strong relationships with the Upstream, Investment and Advisory teams by supporting them on developing projects with the domestic private sector in FCS. Key areas of support include the identification of key market level challenges that inhibit the development of domestic private sector, the collection of first-hand market intelligence on local corporates; the systematic capture of operational lessons to inform the development of knowledge products that benefit investment and advisory projects in FCS; early-stage business development with the domestic private sector for the Country Management Unit (CMU); screening; IDD and concept note development where appropriate. 

•  Leverage the Local Champions toolkit and approach and also pilot new approaches/partnerships for delivering on business development.

•  Support IFC regional and industry teams in identifying opportunities and constraints to and piloting economic integration initiatives in forced displacement settings; leading diagnostics and scoping missions, development of knowledge products to support implementation of IFC’s work in Forced Displacement (FDP) settings, piloting approaches; convening IFC teams and raising awareness externally around innovative FDP projects. 

•  Identify opportunities to develop and pilot tools and approaches specific to FCS markets in conjunction with industry and regional teams. Take the lead in developing opportunities to pilot these approaches to support delivery in FCS.

•  Support the regional teams in developing and maintaining relationships with external stakeholders, including organizations working on forced displacement like the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), World Food Program (WFO), private companies, NGOs, financial institutions, and the World Bank.

•  Support the delivery of conflict sensitivity approaches in operational projects, strategic WBG documents (e.g. Risk and Resilience Assessments, Country Private Sector Diagnostics) and screening/analytics. Coordinate incorporation of fragility lens in projects and programs implemented with the World Bank Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) team in coordination with the FCS Africa Thematic Lead for Conflict Sensitivity, to develop a common approach to conflict sensitivity.

•  Identify and screen advisory projects that may require AFI funding and work closely with the project teams to identify areas for inclusion of fragility expertise.

•  Deliver on knowledge leadership products and events related to FCS projects. Convene industry and country teams to develop lessons learned and drive new FCS tools and approaches. 

 

Core Competencies

Technical experience and expertise

•  Demonstrated thematic knowledge on private sector development in FCS and significant high-level operational experience in FCS markets in Africa including refugee and/or conflict affected settings.

 

Business Development and Market Creation

•  Ability to analyze client, sector, and market data to design potential FCS solutions to create and unlock markets or improve sector and firm performance and develop pipeline of bankable projects.

•  Demonstrated ability to engage with country offices to identify target clients in the domestic private sector. Support the roll out of the Local Champions approach.

•  Demonstrate a broad understanding of sectors and industry drivers, latest trends and changes in FCS markets; show capacity to understand, enable, and participate in business development opportunities for multiple countries by demonstrating long-term perspective, open-mindedness.

•  Demonstrate persistence, innovation, and ability to leverage all available FCS tools; show a good understanding of the roles and value-add of IFC and WBG in new markets.

 

Project Support and Delivery

•  Experience in conducting scoping and diagnostic engagements to identify potential needs of domestic private sector clients in FCS countries as the basis for developing a proposal or client recommendations and preparing necessary project documents for moderately complex projects. 

•  Experience engaging with peers, including industry, sector, product, and ES&G specialists as well as legal, M&E, and finance staff, to integrate FCS considerations into proposed projects to improve concept and project approvability. 

 

Relationships 

•  Demonstrate ability to lead client meetings, share industry best practices, and engage with client management to troubleshoot project issues.

•  Demonstrate skills in managing relationships with stakeholders internally and externally as well as development partners to understand their interests and build support for client engagement work.

 

Working with WB

•  Show ability to interact effectively with working level WBG staff and participate in collaborative interventions and projects that enable private sector investment by exercising sensitivity to differences in corporate cultures, priorities, and operating practices and requirements.

 

Selection Criteria

•  Master’s degree in a related field and at least 10–12 years of relevant experience.

•  Extensive experience working in a challenging business environment including refugee situations and/or conflict affected countries will be a distinct advantage.

•  Self-starter, mature and flexible personality; able to work in a multicultural, fast-paced team environment.

•  A team player with outstanding people management skills, ability to work with colleagues from different teams who are not reporting to him/her and achieve outstanding results while meeting tight deadline and maintaining strong client service orientation.

•  Strong analytical and presentation skills working with data using standard office software Excel, Word, Powerpoint.

•  Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and French.

 

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.

 

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